Racines | Roots

Garance Primat is a French philanthropist, collector and entrepreneur who has developed her own responsiveness to art that she feels is profoundly in tune with the natural realm. Under her guidance, the Domaine des Étangs in Charente Limousine now welcomes visitors, who come to enjoy art, science and the environment together. Taking over almost 1,000 hectares of unspoilt countryside that include forests, meadows, ponds and permaculture gardens, Garance Primat has developed a holistic approach that combines preserving biodiversity, promoting the rural heritage and a commitment to the arts. The 13th-century château and its outbuildings have been restored using traditional skills and local materials, and now host artworks, residencies, exhibitions and retreats for contemplation. At the heart of this enterprise is a collection of contemporary art that has grown like a poetic echo of the nature that surrounds it. Adopting as its emblem the dragonfly – a herald of metamorphosis – the Garance Primat Collection has now amassed over a thousand works that eagerly create links between the major artists of the 20th century, such as Yves Klein and Pablo Picasso, and the most influential figures in contemporary art: Lee Ufan, Tomás Saraceno, Alicja Kwade, Olafur Eliasson, Anselm Kiefer and Richard Long. Bérengère Baucher is the commissioning editor at Presses de la Cité. She holds a PhD in French literature and worked as a teacher-researcher before spending ten years at Éditions Le Robert, first as a lexicographer and then as literary director alongside Alain Rey.